What is one consequence of not resetting the attitude indicator after releasing a caged gyro?

• A. It can temporarily misrepresent attitude.
• B. It automatically resets on release.
• C. It becomes more accurate.
• D. It locks permanently.

Answer: (A)

When a caged attitude indicator is released, its internal gyroscope may still reflect the attitude it was locked to rather than the airplane’s current attitude. If you don’t reset it, the horizon line on the instrument can momentarily show the wrong pitch or bank as the gyro settles and the gimbals realign. That brief misrepresentation can be confusing and lead to misreadings in flight, which is why you reset the instrument to match the actual attitude using outside cues or cockpit references.

It doesn’t automatically reset on release, it doesn’t become more accurate by itself, and it certainly isn’t going to lock in a correct attitude permanently—the error is temporary and corrected by a manual reset.